Transcript September 2010 , US Congress Votes For Economic Genius of our Generation Rush Holt, New Jersey – Award Congressional Gold Medal to.

September 2010 , US Congress Votes For Economic Genius of our Generation
Rush Holt, New Jersey –
Award Congressional Gold Medal to Economic Genius, Muhammad Yunus
I rise in strong support of this legislation to award Dr Muhammad Yunus the
congressional gold medal ; the house has garnered 297 bipartisan sponsors of
this bill; Muhammad Yunus is widely known as banker to the poor and is one
of the world’s great humanitarians, and an economic genius
In 1974, as Bangladesh was struggling with terrible famine, this professor of
economics led his students out of classroom and into village near by, there they
discovered impoverished people could not get ahead because of the oppressive
business practices of money lenders who exploited their poverty and
desperation; with just $27 Yunus liberated 42 victims of these unfair practices
From this first experience, with the power of small amount of money, yunus
developed the concept of microcredit; with just a few dollars to work with the
poor are able to become entrepreneurs; they sell vegetables or clothing or other
handmade goods and other products in order to slowly generate and accumulate
profits; or they devise clever service industries with the cell phone or a
computer that they can buy with the microloan; and it turns out that the poor are
wary of debt , and are careful stewards of money; repayment rates of
microloans are consistently near 97%, and step by step these borrowers build
individual ladders on which they can climb out of poverty and into mainstream
economy
Within few years of his first trip to that destitute village, yunus created the
Grameen Bank to act as bank to the poor in Bangladesh ; today Grameen Bank
has over 2500 branches, it serves more than 8.3 million people, in over 81,000
villages; it has dispersed nearly 10 billion dollars to the poor; it is estimated that
more than 60% of Grameen Bank’s borrowers have crossed the poverty line;
many of these re women
Over the last 3 decades yunus has made the elimination of poverty his life’s
work, and the concept of microcredit has been widely adopted and the field
now serves the poor with a portfolio of financial services including savings
accounts , insurance, fund transfers, education loans, pensions ...
Microfinance institutions now serve over 160 million people in developing
countries; women who make up 60% of the world’s poorest citizens and
disproportionately shoulder the burdens of poverty receive over 95% of the
microloans; the funds allow them to increase their independence and improve
the quality of life of their entire families; children of borrowers are more likely
to attend school and enjoy better nutrition. Yet even with these
accomplishments, there is more to be done. There are 2.6 billion people round
the world who live on less than $2 a day; and the poorest 1.4 billion live on less
than a dollar and a quarter per day
Microfinance still needs to take deeper root in Africa where 75% of the
population live on less than $2 per day; we must commit ourselves to
addressing their needs and microfinance can be key component of that work;
Muhammad Yunus and those who have followed in his footsteps have made it
possible for the working poor to turn into an entrepreneurial middle class and
for beggars to become business people
Yunus has been recognised with the Nobel prize for peace and the US
presidential medal for freedom; he continues to challenge economic
preconceptions and the acceptance of poverty around this world. We wish to
further honor his achievements, and to support his extraordinary vision of
making poverty, as he spoke in Oslo, a concept that future generations may
understand only by visiting a museum
Spencer Bachus, Alabama –
Overdue recognition of a vastly important
concept: what credit can do
Over the last couple of the years we have
talked about the effects of the recent
economics crisis, and how it has limited our
ability to procure loans in this country. We all
know that credit is the lifeblood of both
business and daily life. And that businesses
need capital to invest in tools, labour and raw
materials and that in individuals need credit
for short term needs and long term
investments such as education. The need to
free up credit in the USA is important in this
country , but it is easy to lose sight how
serious the need for credit is elsewhere - there
it is sometimes a matter of surviving or being
able to eke out a living.
It is a testimony to the man we honor today
that he both recognised the needs of many for
loans of very small amounts of money and
devised a system that can be replicated
anywhere to address that need.
In the years since the founding of Grameen,
the model has blossomed in projects ranging
from information technology and
communications to food production with
partners ranging from small local companies
to giant multinationals. One project has
funded installation of nearly half a million
small solar electrical plants producing power
for off the grid people in Bangladesh. I
remember reading the book by Robert Caro
about Lyndon Johnson and what electricity
meant to the hill country of Texas- the miracle
that we saw in America a century ago is being
repeated in these countries now: the miracle
of electricity.
This microlending model is not confined to
small or developing countries, it has found its
way to Canada and even the United States .
Dr Yunus holds out the possibility that
another offshoot he calls Social Business
might be a way to help redevelop Haiti and
bring its people out of poverty , as well as in
developed countries to provide a path to help
the poor become self-supporting without the
need for welfare. Through all of this Dr
Yunus has been not only a visionary
innovator but tireless advocate for the model
that demonstrates how to end poverty.
Let me conclude by saying this bill is an
overdue recognition of a vastly important
concept and the man who devised it.
Grameen Economics Leadership Hubs
(Asian Pacific- Century 1975; Consider Japan 1962)
By 2020 youth’s greatest sustainability
goals (clue use webs media to survey
them now) will be won or lost. 7 billion
humans can win if we celebrate one
country that dared to map out the
missing exponentials of sustainability :
netgen’s 10-100 times more economic
models of banking, health, energy, and
educational media..
Purpose-led Stockmarkets SB100 SB51
Journal of Social Business
Norman Macrae Foundation Parties & Prizes
CONSIDER BANGLADESH 2010
Exciting 2010s:
In 2010 American congress
votes Dr Yunus genius
economist of our epoch.
Do your societies and nations
invest in leaders who know why
the Grameen Economics that
*ends poverty in the developing
world, also
*creates jobs for youth in the
developed world, also
*prevents compound loss of
human sustainability in all
worlds?
Join up: resolve professional
trust as Grameen Economics &
Leadership Hub the world
1949-1989
2010s
2010s MOST EXCITING DECADE
•Last Call: To Network Economics of
Youth & Sustainability Exponentials
•Keynes Whole Truth: Increasingly
only economics rules world (system)
•64 trillion $ Q&A:: who’s economics
for= which system to spin round?
•DNA of Economist: Celebrate Social
Action of Micro>Media>Macro not
Macro>Media>Micro